paternity leave

[the elyse]

so when dd was born, dh was still on a six month probation with the fire dept (standard hiring process) because he had only been there 3 months, so he only had i *think* 3 shifts off, and i'm pretty sure it came out of his vacation days. anyway, i hadn't even thought about it at all, because 3 shifts off is about 11 days off, and that would be more than adequate time for him to be off work after baby arrives. i asked him to check with his captain the other day to see how long he really gets.....

10 shifts!!!

that's a whole month off with pay. how AWESOME is that??? i don't know if i can have him around that long...but i will def. have some projects for him to do while i'm naking.

[KatherineNaomi]

My husband works the Saturday - Monday shift at work, 12 hour days. He's taking off 3 weekends so he'll have almost a 4 weeks off. He's such a big help around the house with the kids/cooking/cleaning I don't know what I'd do with out him. We'll all really miss him when he has to go back.

[birthmommom]

that is so great

I think the way we are doing it is dh will take 2 weeks with pay and then 2 weeks vacation. so 4 weeks with pay, which is good since we are moving to GA.

[lincap]

Mine DH is the opposite. It took me weeks and weeks to beg him to check his paternity leave policy.

Basically he can do the FMLA up to 12 weeks unpaid. He can use his 5 days vacation. That is right 5 days vacation. They get 10 days total but MUST use 5 of those days during a mandatory shut down around Christmas.

He can use 5 days family and sickness.


So he will only have 5 days (family and sickness to use). Can't afford any weeks unpaid. And want to hang onto his 5 days vacation for later in the year.

UGH UGH

[sarahn4639]

Oh I would cry! That is so wonderful!! DH is taking a week unpaid. He could take vacation days to have it paid but we want to still be able to go on vacation this summer. That is so great! Congrats!

[isra1986]

My husband is not taking off at all. Nobody else can run the store but either him or me!

[sarahn4639]

Oh isra, I'm sorry. Being self employed certainly has it's ups and downs.....

[Nikki Christina]

im so jealous. dh gets nothing we cant afford unpaid leave either. because he's allready had what amounts to 3 weeks unpaid since thanksgiving because of restructuring & moving stuff around

i am really really dreading having to get up in the mornings & get 3 dressed & my oldest to school on time i am NOT a morning person

[LoveChild421]

Originally Posted by lincap

Mine DH is the opposite. It took me weeks and weeks to beg him to check his paternity leave policy.

Basically he can do the FMLA up to 12 weeks unpaid. He can use his 5 days vacation. That is right 5 days vacation. They get 10 days total but MUST use 5 of those days during a mandatory shut down around Christmas.

He can use 5 days family and sickness.


So he will only have 5 days (family and sickness to use). Can't afford any weeks unpaid. And want to hang onto his 5 days vacation for later in the year.

UGH UGH

same here.

[ksera05]

DH is taking two weeks and through some finangling we managed to get both of them paid. His manager tried to go back on it but HR backed up DH.

I hope it's long enough...

[StrawberryFields]

A whole month! That's awesome! My dh is taking a week off when the baby is born, just like he did when ds was born.

[Dea]

There isn't a standard paternity leave in the states? (I live here and all but I'm Canadian and I'm so used to what is normal at home) My DH gets 7 weeks here. We're going to have him use 2-3 weeks when the baby is born then space the rest out to make vacations nice and long for the rest of the year.

I don't think it's fair that a decent paternity leave and maternity leave isn't standard... a family needs both parents. I guess I'm just an uber socialist.

[the elyse]

i would so love to have socialized medicine. *sigh*

[LoveChild421]

Originally Posted by Dea

There isn't a standard paternity leave in the states? (I live here and all but I'm Canadian and I'm so used to what is normal at home) My DH gets 7 weeks here. We're going to have him use 2-3 weeks when the baby is born then space the rest out to make vacations nice and long for the rest of the year.

I don't think it's fair that a decent paternity leave and maternity leave isn't standard... a family needs both parents. I guess I'm just an uber socialist.

nope, the only thing I'm aware of is FMLA which basically gives you 12 weeks without pay but the gurantee that your job will still be there when you come back. Small companies aren't even bound by that. I feel really bad for single mamas who have to try and find a way to survive on no income for that long or go back way too early. Gotta love America- I guess they figure "oh well you decided to have the kid, not well off? get your butt back to work!" :

It is good to hear though that some companies actually treat their employees well and have some sort of maternity/paternity leave package.

[BabyBump]

Mine is taking 3 weeks. He works for USPS and can use 2 weeks out of his sick time, which he has a bajillion hours in and then the rest can be vacation or unpaid. USPS follows the regular FMLA policy so he could take up to 12. Three will be plenty since he can't sit still and will be driving me crazy by week 2. With it being february I can't shove him out to the golf course for a couple hours a day either.

Don't get me wrong I'm thrilled he wants to stay home for a few weeks.

[GreenRose]

Wow, a month, that's wonderful!
DH doesn't get any paid leave, but he's going to take two weeks.. one right away, then my mother will visit for a week, and another after she leaves. But he doesn't work far from home, so maybe I'll get lunch visits too

[isra1986]

This baby is coming at a good time though, it is the winter season so he only has to work for 9 hours a day instead of the 15 hours a day in the summer months. And we are only 2 miles from the store so we will be walking to see daddy everyday! I want to lose my weight, lol.

Originally Posted by sarahn4639

Oh isra, I'm sorry. Being self employed certainly has it's ups and downs.....

[flapjack]

Dea- yep, I get you. One of these days I'm going over to the US to start the revolution- wanna help?

Saying that, DH won't get anything this time because he's a student. He can take as much time off as he wants to, but in practice he needs a certain number of days in school, which is every Tuesday this month, and two of the next four Thursdays. It's going to stink

[BinahYeteirah]

So what do you get in the UK? I was doing some searching and from what I read (I'm not sure if I got the right info) there's only a requirement to give two weeks of paternity leave at a low pay (just over 100 pounds). Certainly that's better than nothing. There is also unpaid parental leave, again, from what I read, for 13 weeks, but we get 12 weeks in the US, so that's comparable. Is that right? I'm sure many employers have much better deals for their employees, but that's voluntary, and American companies can choose to do similar things.

There really isn't required paid paternity leave in Australia, either. Fathers can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid paternity leave, but the 52 weeks are shared with the mother. So they can take some combination of leave that adds up to 52 weeks, with certain restrictions.

I'm entitled to up to two years of unpaid leave from my job (my employer's terms are more generous than is required by law), and 14 weeks of paid leave. Dh's boss has given him one week of paid leave (not required), but we need his income, so he'll go back after that.

[Dea]

Originally Posted by flapjack

Dea- yep, I get you. One of these days I'm going over to the US to start the revolution- wanna help?
(

I think so!
Reading a lot of this thread makes me greatful that DH does have an amazing job, and I'm also happy that I am Canadian, so if something horrible were to happen to us and his job couldn't cover something, we could just go home and be fine.